Week One Complete

3/28/11

Our UNCW students completed their first week in the schools here in San Pedro and it was quite eventful. Many of the students were asked to observe their partner teacher for the first week of schools, while others were asked to “dive right into instruction” as their partner teacher relinquished control quickly. It was interesting to see how our student teachers (and the children) would react. Some student teachers were anxious while others were excited to begin! Teaching in Belize and employing a foreign curriculum can be disconcerting to those students that like to be well planned and informed; while others teachers are more comfortable becoming engaged quickly without the direction provided them in their student teaching classrooms. Many of our students are provided a high level of support structures in Wilmington internships to be successful. I will argue that our teachers are overly supported in some cases. So we observe some students struggle to teach in an environment where those ‘home-based’ support structures don’t exist. But, throughout the week, almost all of our students get familiar with their local environment, if not all together comfortable. I don’t think they understand how capable and well trained they are!

But isn’t that what teaching in a foreign environment is supposed to be about? Placing each of our students in an unfamiliar environment and then asking each student to make sense (and meaning) of their new surroundings is about being adaptive. In science education we call this inquiry learning. We ask our k-12 students to do this, but how often do we ask our teachers to do this? Really…how often? Many of our student teacher are being asked to do just that during this field experience. All of our students are put into a state of disequilibrium when confronted with an environment completely familiar to them. And what is amazing to me is to watch them “work themselves back to stability.” I’m a firm believer that if they can be successful teaching in San Pedro, Belize without the resources they have available in the states, then they can be successful anywhere. We have a combination of students amongst this year’s 18 participants. Some are well traveled internationally. These students tend to adapt to this new environment much better early in the field experience. We also have students who have never left the southeastern part of the United States. Many of these students have a bit of ‘culture shock’ initially. But, after a week, we find that these students grow in ways we could never have planned for. It is an amazing realization to observe! And Susan and I believe that international experiences like this get our students ready for the classroom in ways that I could never do as a teacher educator back in the states.

3/20/11

The international field experience to Belize is well underway! The students (and instructors) have settled into their modest accommodations at Pedro’s Inn. They have had ample opportunity to get acclimated to both the geography of the island and the cultural differences they see on a daily basis. It is interesting to watch the students negotiate their fear of the unknown when visiting and interacting within a foreign land. For instance, observing students intellectually deal with the monetary change in currency when paying for food or purchasing supplies always makes me smile.

The weekend has been quite uneventful. After Friday’s visit to each of the partner schools, students had the opportunity to talk about their initial impressions and share their excitements and concerns at our breakout session. While all have said they are genuinely excited (you can tell by the smiles when they reflect out load), some are concerned with the methodological differences that they have seen so far. Other students have concerns about a student need to constantly touch the teacher. While others are amazed at the class sizes they will encounter at San Pedro Roman Catholic and San Pedro High School. The next breakout session will be Monday after school.

Our UNCW students took the weekend to explore the island, eat at different locations, and even snorkel or dive for the first time. Peter, owner of Pedro’s Inn, hosted an inexpensive pizza reception for the students on Thursday evening. Paul and Sarah, owners of the Belizean restaurant and coffee house Sarah’s Kitchen, hosted the students for a $5.00 Sunday Brunch. Wow…what a deal! This was the most filling and inexpensive brunch I’ve ever had! We thank them for their kindness and hospitality.

Some of our motivated students already began to complete their 20 required hours of community service. They walked the homeless dogs at Saga Humane Society…many of which have never been on a leash before! See the posted pictures.

Lastly, we will spend Sunday evening resting for the first day of school tomorrow. Many of the students have to be up early and arrive at their schools between 7:30 AM and 8:15 AM. Susan and I will accompany different groups to start the morning. I will lead the six high school students at 7:30 AM and Susan will get the six Isla Bonita students started. We will meet the last six UNCW student teachers at San Pedro R.C. together as this is the first year of our working relationship. We are beginning the field experience on as ‘firm of footing’ as I’ve ever experienced so far. Can’t wait for tomorrow!

Welcome to San Pedro! We're back!

Thursday, March 17th
We have arrived in San Pedro, Belize! After leaving Wilmington, NC at 7:00 AM, Susan and I flew Delta airlines to Atlanta to connect with a flight to Belize City, Belize. Susan, 8 students and I passed through immigration rather quickly and we left for Ambergris Caye on a puddle jumper (18 passenger Cessna) using Tropic Air. I always love this flight because it provides us with a glimpse of the island from the air providing a small context for where the students will live and be working. The island always seems so much bigger on the ground than it does from the air, and besides, the short flight and small plane is a unique experience for all of us. As soon as we touched group, we were re-introduced to the heat and humidity! It is amazing that any work gets done! It is so hot here, but the Caribbean Sea is so close and so beautiful! I even had a moment to do an interview with the local paper. They were interested in announcing our arrival to the residents of the island. We continue to get more attention, in terms of press coverage, every year…this is a great reflection on the success of the program!
The students used Wednesday to settle into their accommodations at Pedro’s Inn, the dorm like hotel that is housing our student group. It was wonderful to see Peter, Cindy, and Walter again after a year away! Pedro’s is almost like a second home to me, and they are so accommodating to our field experience group. Susan and I have a one bedroom room with shower and sink. The students have the same style of accommodations but they are housed in the property across the street. All of the students share roommates and are housed on their own floor. There is hot water (so far), but we anticipate interruptions over the next 40 days! That is life in Belize.
We all spent the evening together eating pizza at Pedro’s Inn and socializing. Peter provided the group with a rousing introduction before the pizza game. He is such a unique character (a boisterous Englishman), but we would expect nothing less from the expatriates on the island! He even provided March Madness sheets for everyone to complete.



We met as a group at 9:00 AM and walked to George’s Kitchen for breakfast. Maria was working in the restaurant as usual and it was fun to listen to Susan report back about her Stewed Chicken recipe Susan used last year in the states. We all ate well, and began out tour of the island. We walked the Caribbean path to the town and highlighted all the schools, hotels, and businesses as we passed each.


The group visited the three San Pedro schools that we will use on the island: San Pedro High School, San Pedro Roman Catholic Primary School and Isla Bonita Primary School. Each school has a unique character and charm unto itself. We had the opportunity to talk with all three principals this morning/afternoon. It is so nice to be visited with smiles and interest from the principal and teachers! We are looking forward to our field experience beginning bright and early on Monday morning. One last student meeting this afternoon to discuss the schedule and syllabus, among other items. And…we’re off!